I feel like I’m some kind of Vice expert (no, not that type of vice…) as this is the fourth time I’ve reviewed the Shropshire mob. And to be fair to the band, they’ve improved every single time, culminating in this four-tracker which is easily their best work to date. I will get the obvious out of the way very early on – Vice sound a lot like Coheed and Cambria. The vocals border on ripping off Claudio Sanchez in sound and delivery, and it’s no mean feat to hit some of those notes, so I suppose we can let it fly. If you are a C&C fan mind, you’ll love Vice – ‘Flight of the MAL’ could very easily sit alongside any of the American band’s other songs as it’s that good.
The secret to their success is the band’s ability to make the difficult sound so simple. The use of guitar effects keeps things interesting, while the vocals tend to take on the role of an instrument by darting around all over the place – ‘The Eye Of Roja’ sees some unlikely high notes alongside a punchy guitar riff before the expected explosion in the chorus. While not original – Coheed obviously did this first – you have to admire the fact the band have nailed a very difficult sound to replicate. The production is also spot on too; it would have been very easy to have made this sound very muddy but credit to the production team for keeping this clean. This is Vice‘s best work yet, now they need to hit the road and impress in a live arena.